The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time: Reader Letters

I am glad Rolling Stone cleared their inbox for responses on this issue. First off, David Fricke is the main reason I subscribe to Rolling Stone every year, he is one person who knows almost as much as I do about good music. Kudos for including "Holidays in the Sun" by the Sex Pistols, if the solo in that song doesn't generate some heat, you're dead. One huge omission, which Kirk Hammett would agree, is anything off UFO's live album, Strangers In the Night. Micheal Schenker's solos on "Lights Out" are not only blazing fast but melodic as anything in the Lennon/McCarthy songbook. Schenker picked every note, no tricks, with a killer tone only a Marshall stack, wah, and a Flying V could produce (or as Keith Richards called those guitars, "Flying Arrows").

Russ Hofmaier
Omaha, NE

I really enjoyed the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs" article and agreed with the majority of the entries. There's only song I believe you missed, which definitely should have been included, especially since it is mainly the bass guitar that makes the song and it's from one of the greatest bass guitarists of all time; The Who's "The Real Me." If there was ever a lead guitar played on a bass guitar this has to be it. John Entwistle is at his best on this song, and I can't help playing Bass Air Guitar whenever I hear it. While I am raving about The Who, you could almost include some of Keith Moon's drum riffs as a lead instrument in a lot of their songs. For two instruments that are supposedly there to provide the rhythm and back beat Entwistle and Moon showed us what great players can do by bringing their instruments to the forefront. They are both surely missed.

Steve Berto
Annandale, Va

There certainly were great guitar songs in this issue. Hendrix, Zeppelin, and Cream received their due (although I like "Tales of Brave Ulysses" better than "Crossroads"). A few things did bother me. I love Nirvana but "Smells Like Teen Spirit" cannot beat Tom Morello on guitar. Then there is the whole Tool thing. Adam Jones at #100? Really? I was surprised (a good, happy, surprise) to find Queens of the Stone Age on your list, hooray. However, my real beef is the ranking for Alice in Chains, or the lack of their presence in the issue! Can you honestly tell me that you can listen to "Nutshell" (MTV Unplugged) and not want to break down emotionally? It is a great song on guitar and in all other aspects, yet somehow it was entirely overlooked. What happened?

Joni O'Lague
Albuquerque, NM

While my son usually gets to your magazine first I had to fight him for it when I saw your article picking the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time." What a great review, I would only add, maybe because of my love for southern rock, that I was disappointed that "Green Grass and High Tides" by the Outlaws didn't make the final cut - like a good story teller the artist takes his time to develop his story to a fevered pitch that leaves the listener begging for more.

Lorn Green
Miami, FL